The media scene in Serbia

The World Television Day has been celebrated. Serbia has around one hundred registered TV stations, while 98.7% of its population owns TV sets, according to information collected by the Republic Statistics Agency in the last year. The research shows that citizens of Serbia watch one hour of television programme more than European citizens.
(Pravda, UNS, NUNS, 21.11.2011)

The Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic says that the state does not influence the media and that "the dark age of the rule of political parties over the media is long gone". It seems that he has not read the recent report on the pressure and control over the media prepared by the Anti-Corruption Council. According to the report, the media is not control by a single political party anymore, but by several parties and tycoons. At the same time, a case that shook the media scene – indictments against the journalist from Nacionalni Gradjanski newspaper, Jelena Spasic, and its editor, Milorad Bojovic, and the forthcoming secret trial – disproves the Prime Minister's claim.
(Blic, 12.11.2011)

The print media in Serbia is not dead, and latest technologies offer a chance for their development, it was estimated at the second Press Media Summit in Belgrade. The editor of the weekly magazine Vreme, Dragoljub Zarkovic, said that those who predicted the death of the print media were wrong and that the role of the newspaper would be to "explain events instead of reporting about them". The editor of the newspaper Blic, Veselin Simonovic, was of the opinion that nothing had changed in the print media scene in comparison with the last year, except that lawlessness had increased even further. He said that the market was completely destroyed and chaotic, but that all print media outlets in Serbia had survived.
(Tanjug, B92, NUNS, 16.11.2011, Beta , Politika, Blic, Pregled, 24 sata, Dnevnik, UNS, NUNS, Pravda, Alo!, Vecernje Novosti, 17.11.2011, ASMEDIA, November 2011)

Many of the media reports about the blockade of lectures on the Faculty of Philosophy between October 21 and November 10 had been based on incorrect or manipulated information, said the Professor Vesna Dimitrijevic, the dean of Faculty. "I am of the opinion that media companies and TV stations should examine all the documents and deny their previous published reports. Such a step would diminish the injustice done to the Faculty of Philosophy", added Dimitrijevic.
(Politika, NUNS, 17.11.2011)

The Media Strategy adopted by the Government represents a kind of a minimal agreement between politics, the profession, and various interests, said the editor of Radio Belgrade, Djordje Vlajic. He believes that "media laws and the whole business environment will not be improved by this government" and that "the government now has an alibi that demonstrates its willingness to do something". The journalist from the weekly magazine Vreme, Tamara Skroza, said that it seemed as if the report about the control over the media by the Anti-Corruption Council had never happened, since the media failed to report on it. Professor Miroljub Rajkovic pointed out that "there was a tacit agreement among the media not to cover the Council's report".
(Danas, 10.11.2011)

The director of the International Security Institute, Orhan Dragas, says that "the laws against corruption in our country are excellent but have not been implemented. Corruption exists in the media as well: very often, informal editors of private media outlets actually work in the interest of ruling political parties. They have complete control over the published content because of their ability to blackmail the media with regard to advertisement deals paid by public companies".
(Danas, 22.11.2011)

The number of reported cases of corruption has been on the decrease since 2004, said the professor of criminal law from the University of Tilburg, Petrus van Duyne, during the round table entitled "How the Media in Serbia View and Report on Corruption". Around 40 percent of citizens report corruption, because of the lack on interest in it, especially by the media, said Van Duyne. He pointed out that Serbian journalists are often prevented from investigating corruption by their editors, who don't want to lose their advertisers. Professor Van Duyne and his team have analyzed media reports on corruption published by daily newspapers in the last 14 months, and the results will be announced not later than January 2012.
(Pravda, 23.11.2011)

Public service broadcasters

Out of 17,000 applicants, 10,000 candidates have fulfilled the general conditions of the public contest organized by Radio-Television Serbia (education, age and citizenship) under the title "We Need 100 Young Professionals for the 21st Century". Each one of the 10,000 candidates has been tested. After verification, a list of candidates with best results will be published and they will begin a three-month trial work. The best among them will be offered permanent employment.
(Politika, 12.11.2011, Politika, NUNS, 14.11.2011, RTS, Politika, NUNS, Blic - Srbija, UNS, 16.11.2011)

The RTS Digital programme has reached around 35 percent of households in Serbia, without taking into account the ones that receive the programme directly from the antennas of transmitters located on Avala or Crni Cot, says AGB Nielsen. Their data shows that RTS Digital is watched predominantly by 30-39 years-old viewers and that male population consists the majority of viewers. The Radio-Television Serbia (RTS) announced that the Guide To Digitalization would be aired on its programme on November 26 to mark the year when analog transmitters are planned to be turned off.
(Danas, NUNS, 23.11.2011)

Threats, attacks and proceedings against journalists; media-related trials

RTV EM is thankful to the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Minister of Police, Ivica Dacic, and the head of the police, Milorad Veljovic, "for their understanding and interest, as well as to the police station in Knjazevac which has committed all its resources and demonstrated professionalism in an attempt to protect journalists and the media". After burglars had stolen highly valuable journalistic equipment with a precious journalistic database from RTV EM, the police identified the perpetrators and returned a part of the stolen property to its owner.
(NUNS, 11.11.2011)

Milos Vasic writes: A few days ago, journalist Petar Lukovic received two court summons: one from the investigative judge in a case related to libel and insult, and another one for the main court session related to litigation in the same case. First, Pera Lukovic has not received his own copy of private lawsuits – which is required in both cases. Namely, in litigations, each defendant has the right to file a response to the lawsuit during a period not shorter than 30 days; each defendant, it seems, except Pera Lukovic, obviously. The lawsuit was filed by priest Filaret, who demands 1.5 million dinars for emotional damage and a criminal penalty for libel and insult allegedly committed in an article originally published by magazine Feral Tribune from Split and later republished by As in Serbia. This happened in 2007. At the time, Filaret initiated a lawsuit over libel and insult against As, but the competent court rejected it in 2007. If the lawyers I spoke with are correct, the case has been brought to a completion (res iudicata). Please pay attention: the case has ended in a verdict and at the same time the claimant has not initiated any proceedings before the expiry of all legal deadlines for filing of any claims. It is not possible to file claims for libel and insult five years after the act. As we can see, the Church has a more prominent political role in Serbia than ever before, despite its declarative separation from the state. Journalist Pera Lukovic is just a collateral damage in this sinful relationship between the Church and the State: just an orphan abandoned on a doorstep of the court.
(Danas, NUNS, 14.11.2011)

The debate between an epidemiologist, Dr Zoran Radovanovic, who is a member of the Managing Board of the organization "Doctors Against Corruption", and the author of the epizode of the TV series "The Insider" aired by TV B92 under the title "The Sale and Purchase of Health", has proved once again how difficult it is to investigate the secrets of the pharmaceutical industry, writes daily newspaper Politika. The debate centered on whether the media had distorted the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the flu pandemics.
(Politika, 12.11.2011)

Journalists from RTV B92 have issued an announcement in a response to the reports published by the Politika daily. "Since the first episode of the series on corruption, the epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic has been making threats against The Insider journalists and demanded that we not publish any facts we had discovered about him. We can prove this. After we published Dr Radovanovic's threats in B92 News, new threats have followed, now delivered via the organization he is a member of, 'Doctors Against Corruption'", claims B92.
(Politika, NUNS, 13.11.2011)

TV station Kanal 9 from Novi Sad delivered an initiative today to the Committee for Protection of Competition aimed at ensuring that SBB finally allows broadcasters to access programme packages that are equally applied to all legal electronic media outlets in Serbia. According to information from the Journalists' Association of Serbia, numerous domestic broadcasters have had problems related to the access to the cable system of SBB in Novi Sad, Kikinda, Beograd, Uzice, Leskovac, Kruševac, Pirot...
(UNS, 16.11.2011)

The Court of Appeals in Belgrade has doubled the first-instance verdict passed by the Primary Court in Loznica against the attacker on the journalist from the same city, Vladimir Mitric because of infliction of a minor physical injury. The attacker, Ljubinko Todorovic, was sentenced to a year in prison.
(Dnevnik, Blic, NUNS, UNS, 18.11.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) welcomes the increased penalty for Todorovic, and is still convinced that the attack on Mitric was an attempt of murder. The Association reminds that the attack was committed in the same manner as the murder of journalist Milan Pantic. The president of the Executive Board of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), emphasized that Mitric would still need police protection until the attackers were identified.
(UNS, 17.11.2011, Press, 18.11.2011)

Priest Blaza Ivkovic (age 49) from the village of Saraorci from Smederevo, who was questioned by the police during the campaign entitled "Armageddon" on a basis of a suspicion that he had ordered video tapes and DVDs with pedophile content, attacked the team from the Kurir daily newspaper which attempted to interview him. "Do you want me to call people to lynch you? You are sect members! You are opponents of the Orthodox faith! Your newspaper is sectarian!", the priest said. He also threatened to file a lawsuit over previously published articles. "Get out of the village, get out...", yelled the priest.
(Kurir, UNS, NUNS, 20.11.2011)

Investigations of murders of journalists

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has declared November 23 as the International Day Against Impunity for Crime Targeting Journalists. The date was chosen to commemorate the massacre in Maguindanao in the Philippines in which 32 journalists lost their lives and which occurred in November 2009. The Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) reminds that the murder of journalist Dada Vujasinovic has not been solved for 17 and a half years, while the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija has remained unsolved for 12 and a half years. It is also a mystery who and why killed the journalist Milan Pantic in 2001.
(NUNS, 22.11.2011)

On the occasion of November 23, Nedim Sejdinovic from the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV) said that the unsolved murders of journalists had been caused by the general atmosphere in the society. "Serbia has not faced its past nor the crimes committed in its name. Murders of journalists and failure to solve them and identify those responsible should be viewed in this context", said Sejdinovic, and added that such situation sends a bad message to journalists. Dragan Janjic from the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) said that in at least two cases the state is justifiably suspected of being involved in murders of journalists. The participants agreed that threats and attacks on lives of journalists would be less numerous had the murderers of their colleagues been found.
(Deutsche Welle, NDNV, 23.11.2011)

Journalists' rights

Announcement issued by TV Prva says: "After her utterly unprofessional and uncooperative behavior during the previous period, and after the incident she caused yesterday after leaving her workplace and refusing to accept her daily assignments, Branka Nevistic has resigned from her job of a TV presenter-producer on TV Prva today by sending a telegram with her resignation. Her actions have caused damage to TV Prva and our company will take necessary steps to protect its interests".
(Blic, Vecernje Novosti, 10.11.2011)

A popular TV host, Branka Nevistic, has already hired a lawyer and initiated legal proceedings against TV Prva, reports daily newspaper Blic. She claims that she was forced to quit her job because of huge pressure and a lack of conditions for professional reporting. In her words, an open society requires open media and open discussion about all important issues, from the sale of Telekom Srbija to Kosovo. "As a journalist and TV presenter, my only responsibility is not to treat the viewers as fools. Journalists are pressured to act as chess pieces that can be moved at will. I am not a soldier, but a journalist", she said.
(Blic, UNS, 11.11.2011)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) strongly supports Branka Nevistic, who has until recently worked as an editor for TV Prva, in her resistance against her former employer. The TV station tried to force the journalist to succumb to self-censorship due to pressures the station had been exposed to because of her editorial policy. The UNS said that Branka Nevistic had informed the Association in August that she was threatened with dismissal and exposed to censorship on TV Prva.
(UNS, 11. 11. 2011, Fonet, Politika, Kurir, Alo!, Večernje Novosti, 12.11.2011)

The Media Strategy

During a presentation of the third media monitoring report, media experts criticized the Media Strategy of the Government of Serbia, especially the controversial state ownership in the media. The majority opinion was that the Strategy constituted a form of a "minimal agreement between politics, the profession, and various interests" and that it would not significantly improve the position of the media in the country. Professor Miroljub Radojkovic said that the major flaw in the Strategy is its provision which stipulates that national minority media and regional public service broadcasters should be included among the non-privatized media outlets. The second major flaw in the Strategy is the formation of six regional public service broadcasters.
(Dnevnik, UNS, NUNS, 10.11.2011)

The director of the Fonet news agency and a representative of the media sector in the Work Group for Preparation of the Media Strategy, Zoran Sekulic, expressed his doubt that the deadlines set by the action plan for implementation of the Strategy would be honored, especially with regard to the transition from budget-based to project-based financing, since the next year's election were likely to cause delays in the regulation of the media scene.
(Fonet, Danas, UNS, NUNS, 14.11.2011)

It is expected that the two main media laws – the Law on Public Information and the Law on Broadcasting – will be completed in early spring of the next year and later adopted. However, political events will decide when they will be actually adopted, says the state secretary from the Ministry of Culture, Dragana Milicevic Milutinovic. She points out that working groups are being formed which will prepare the draft laws.
(Danas, NUNS, 17.11.2011)

Dragan Janjic writes in the Media Center Newsletter: "The main requirement of the Strategy is that the state budget not be used to finance everyday business operations of the media, but to finance the public interest. This entails the government's obligation to organized public contests for media projects. Independent committees, which would not include any representatives of the government, would decide which projects are in the public interest and should receive money from the budget. This model would also allow the government to influence the allocation of money, but it is much more difficult to favor the 'obedient' media outlets in this way as compared with the system which allocates a fixed amount of money to municipal media outlets (which are public companies) each year."
(MC Newsletter, 18. 11.201).

The minority media

The Independent Journalist's Association of Serbia (NUNS) strongly condemns the political pressure exerted on the news portal www.presheva.com and expresses its full solidarity with its journalists and editors. Behaviour of Galip Beciri, the president of the National Council of Albanians, does not contribute to the freedom of expression and informing of members of the Albanian national minority and other citizens. NUNS again warns against the increasingly frequent inclination of representatives of councils of national minorities to violate the democratic norms and the rights of the independent media.
(NUNS Secretariat, 10. 11. 2011)

In response to the accusations made by the president of the Nacional Council of Albanians during his TV appearance on RTV Aldi, the editorial office of the web portal www.presheva.com demanded protection from the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and OSCE. "Activities of Presheva.com constitute a calculated and politically motivated attack on me and the National Council of Albanians", said the president of the Council. Mr. Beciri denied accusing the journalist, Mr. Salihu, of working for secret services and BIA during his appearance on TV Aldi.
(Danas, NUNS, 15.11.2011, Danas, UNS, NUNS, 17.11.2011)

Tamara Skroza called the attention to gross violations of the journalistic ethics that have remained without a proper response. She pointed out the example of a recent appearance of the president of a political party of Croatians on the programme of TV Prva, who was, in her words, "at the same time a guest and a target". "One of the TV hosts explained to him that the difference between Serbs and his people was in the fact that Serbs had the sense of humor, while Croatians did not". She also criticized the media reports on Kosovo and usage of the phrases like "defenseless people" and "Serbian homesteads".
(Dnevnik, 10.11.2011)

Commenting on the forthcoming adoption of the Media Strategy of Vojvodina Hungarians in 2011-2016, the president of the National Council of Hungarians, Tamas Korhec, said that he expected significant improvement of the quality and professionalism of the media in Hungarian language. Korhec added that it was of utmost importance to create necessary preconditions for the launch of a high-quality, nationally-oriented and engaged TV programme and to enable all household of Vojvodina Hungarians to receive it.
(Magyar Szo, NUNS, 20.11.2011)

The Democratic Party of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, the Civic Alliance of Hungarians and the Movement of Hungarian Hope have estimated that the content of the proposed Media Strategy of Vojvodina Hungarians is unacceptable and that it would result in media censorship. The four parties have called on intellectuals and church representatives to vote against the adoption of the document. The parties say that the Strategy would give unfair advantage to the media founded by high-ranking officials of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM), including the current president of the National Council of Hungarians, Tamas Korhec. Representatives of the four parties agree that the proposed introduction of a journalistic "code of conduct" would result in a "complete censorship by political parties" and a control of SVM over the media under the cover of the National Council of Hungarians.
(Beta, NUNS, 21.11.2011, Dnevnik, UNS, 22.11.2011)

The National Council of Hungarians has adopted the Media Strategy that should "improve the quality and professionalism of the media in Hungarian language until 2016".
(Tanjug, Mađar so, NUNS, B92, 23.11.2011)